The following story was written as the result of a request from the Southeastern Regional School Improvement Team. The Ohio Department of Education asked that districts with significant gains write a "Success Story."
Alexander Local Schools
Submitted by Karen Boch
Alexander Local Schools is a rural district located in Athens County. We are housed on a centralized campus which consists of three buildings: Alexander Elementary School (PK-5), Alexander Middle School (6-8) and Alexander High School (9-12). Our enrollment is approximately 1650 students with 20.4% identified as students with disabilities and 41.8% falling in the economically disadvantaged subgroup.
We have been on a concentrated journey for excellence for approximately 6-7 years. As a district we have moved from Academic Watch to Continuous Improvement and now to Effective. Additionally, for the last three years, our Performance Index has increased from 81.8 in 2003-2004 to 91.8 in 2005-2006. There has not been one specific strategy or initiative that has contributed to our success. Instead, it has been the dedication of the staff to improve student achievement, and the fact that each initiative or practice has not been viewed as the silver bullet but as an integral piece to the puzzle.
In the initial phase, we began our continuous improvement efforts by establishing a District Leadership Team to monitor our efforts. Our District Leadership Team consists of certified staff, administrators, support staff supervisors, and union representation (OAPSE and ALEA). Another branch of our continuous improvement efforts has been the CIP Advisory Panel, which consists of parents, teachers, administrators and a board member. This group meets quarterly to discuss district activities and make recommendations.
The District Leadership Team has been responsible for developing the district strategic plan through data analysis and survey input. Then in 2003, we added Building Leadership Teams to monitor our School Improvement processes at each building. The buildings then followed suit and aligned the building strategic plans to the district’s plan. From there action plans were developed in accordance with School Improvement guidelines.
Time is a precious commodity at Alexander Local Schools as our contractual day does not allow for any type of collaboration. In order to accomplish the work that needed to be done, (alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, identification of power standards/indicators, data analysis, professional development, etc.) we have used Waiver Days, which have allowed us to provide aligned, job-embedded professional development to all staff on an on-going basis. Additionally, work has been completed by hiring substitutes to provide teachers with release time, working in the summer and using collaborative planning.
Hard work and dedication of staff collaborating in a structured environment has been a critical piece to our success. It is through this collaboration that we have looked at and analyzed district, building, trend, and comparison data and then dug deeper into grade level item analysis and constructed response. Across the district, grade levels and departments are working to increase student opportunities to write across the disciplines and to provide students with strategies for answering constructed response questions. Furthermore, when looking at the item analysis, we have delved into why students have difficulty answering a particular item and what patterns within a grade level and between grade levels are present.
As a district, we embarked on the journey to excellence through the implementation of the Baldrige framework. While we are still in the early stages of implementation, we have been able to put structures in place to assist us with our efforts: alignment at all levels (district, building, classroom), quarterly data collection processes, and quarterly assessments to name a few. This has been possible through Waiver Days and the Ohio Department of Education Baldrige Grant received last year.
The second key initiative has been our use of Write Track processes across the district, but especially in grades K-8. This initiative started at about the same time as our continuous improvement journey. We credit our success in writing to the continued professional development and use of the strategies in the classroom with the students.
Another key initiative at K-3 was the Reading First Grant. Through this funding and professional development, we have been able to further examine and align our reading program at the elementary not only in the regular classroom but also in the special education classrooms and after school programs. The grant allowed for Literacy Specialists to help coach staff in investigating and implementing practices that are considered scientifically based research. Because of the grant we have also changed the way we look at reading through the assess-plan-teach model, 90-minute uninterrupted reading blocks, data-driven instruction and intervention structures.
Finally, it is important to recognize the role our Regional School Improvement Team has played in our journey to excellence. The RSIT has been there every step of the way. They were at numerous District Leadership Team meetings, provided us with support through School Improvement meetings, e-mail, and phone conversations. They also supported us with resources such as funds for materials and presenters that aligned to our school improvement efforts.
As a district we realize that there is still room for improvement in all areas. Keeping the target in front of us will help as we continue to work towards excellence and increased student achievement. However, none of this would have been possible without the support of the Board of Education, administration, staff (certified and support), parents and community.
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ALS_Local_Report_Card_2005-2006.pdf
